Lois Capps: “I thank my colleague from New Jersey for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise today in opposition to this bill. We all know…”

“I thank my colleague from New Jersey for yielding. Madam Chair, I rise today in opposition to this bill. We all know that we have a long-term care crisis in this country. What we have now is an unsustainable patchwork approach, with wealthy people having access to private plans, while almost everyone else finds the costs incredibly prohibitive. These are the folks who fall through the cracks every day, spending down all their assets until there's nothing left, and then relying on our strained Medicaid program for care. This is what the CLASS program tries to avoid. It should provide a modest, but meaningful, benefit to individuals who need support to stay out of costly nursing homes, benefits they've already paid into. We can all agree that the CLASS program, as currently written in the statute, is not perfect, but few things are. We can use it as a framework upon which to fix and implement this program, one that would be amended, improved and made sustainable, rather than destroyed. Repealing the CLASS Act does not remove the Nation's need for long- term care. Rather, it makes the path to sustainable solutions much more difficult. Moreover, in the majority's rush to repeal, they have overlooked a vital component that will also be affected by this bill, the National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care. The clearinghouse, which was established with close-to-unanimous Republican support, is the only dedicated place for individuals to learn about their long-term care options.…”